ESSENDON coach James Hird has hit back at claims he has been asked to stand down by his club's board.

Last night Essendon issued a statement, labelling the reports as "baseless rumours and speculation".

This morning, as he entered Windy Hill, Hird told media he was used to constant speculation regarding his future.

"I'm not shocked by anything in this process, it all seems to be a lot of rumour and innuendo that has no fact to it," Hird said.

"I think if you track us through the last six months, there's no need to get frustrated. It's (the stories have) been from the Australian Federal Police raiding my house to being sacked, there's been a lot of unfounded rumours that we'll move through."

The under-siege coach said he was unsure how much longer Essendon would have to wait before gaining a resolution to the ongoing investigation into its controversial supplements saga, but he was looking forward to it being over.

"The most important thing in this is that our players get cleared and hopefully, very soon, our players will get a chance to come out and say that they're clear," Hird said.

Brownlow medallist Mark Ricciuto had sparked the Hird claims when, speaking on Adelaide radio yesterday in his home town, he said he had been told the Bombers coach must stand aside by Thursday or face being ordered out of the coach's box.

"If James Hird does not resign by Thursday someone else might make the decision for him," Ricciuto said on Adelaide's TripleM.

But Hargreaves insisted he did not pass on a message under instructions from Essendon or the club's board.

"That is categorically denied. It is not true. At no stage have I ever told James Hird's lawyer that the board of the Essendon Football Club - or the Essendon Football Club - wanted him to stand down," Hargreaves said.

Asked if former Bombers chairman David Evans wanted Hird to stand down, Hargreaves said: "You'd have to speak to David Evans."

Evans did not return a call last night.

On Thursday, April 11 - the day after Hird was asked to consider his future - Fairfax Media ran a story claiming Hird had been injected with the banned drug, Hexarelin, by the club's former sports scientist Stephen Dank. Hird vehemently denied the report.

The phone call to Nolan was an early flashpoint in the strained relationship between Hird and Evans.

Also on April 11, Patrick Smith, a columnist at The Australian, claimed on SEN radio that Hird had agreed to stand down.

The claim bewildered Hird and the Bombers' coaching staff.

But Hird's immediate future remained a topic of conversation.

On April 12, the day of Essendon's stirring victory over Fremantle, AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou told 3AW that standing down was an option Hird should consider.

"It's probably a stressful time for him and his family. That is an option he has to consider," Demetriou said.

The victorious Bombers returned to Melbourne on Saturday, April 13, and that night AFL commissioner Bill Kelty was photographed leaving Hird's Toorak mansion.

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